1. ‘Sonnet 116’ by William Shakespeare
HOMEWORK- For Friday’s lesson.
Prepare ‘The Flea’ use the ppt slides to guide you.
LO: Example Question:
Examine the view that Shakespeare presents the speaker in this poem, Sonnet 116, as having an idealised view of love.
Task One
In your groups, put the modern translation in the correct order
‘Sonnet 116’ by William Shakespeare

2. Hint: look out for where the rhythm does not conform to these rules
Tick your correct annotations-
Add any that you don’t yet have!
Sonnet 116 Key AO2
The poem is predominantly about the constancy of true love – it is fixed and eternal, and won’t change even when the object of love changes.
Shakespearean sonnet: follows the traditional a-b-a-b c-d-c-d e-f-e-f g-g rhyme scheme
Written in iambic pentameter
Regulated rhythm and structure suggests constancy and stability
Hint: look out for where the rhythm does not conform to these rules

3. Put these in the right order!
And like a star, its value is beyond measure, though its height can be measured.
Love does not alter with the passage of brief hours and weeks, but lasts until Doomsday.
If I’m wrong about this and can be proven wrong, I never wrote, and no man ever loved.
Love isn’t really love if it changes when it sees the beloved change or if it disappears when the beloved leaves.
I hope I may never acknowledge any reason why minds that truly love each other shouldn’t be joined together
Love is not under time’s power, though time has the power to destroy rosy lips and cheeks.
Oh no, love is a constant and unchanging light that shines on storms without being shaken; it is the star that guides every wandering boat.

4. Voila!
I hope I may never acknowledge any reason why minds that truly love each other shouldn’t be joined together.
Love isn’t really love if it changes when it sees the beloved change or if it disappears when the beloved leaves.
Oh no, love is a constant and unchanging light that shines on storms without being shaken; it is the star that guides every wandering boat.
And like a star, its value is beyond measure, though its height can be measured.
Love is not under time’s power, though time has the power to destroy rosy lips and cheeks.
Love does not alter with the passage of brief hours and weeks, but lasts until Doomsday.
If I’m wrong about this and can be proven wrong, I never wrote, and no man ever loved.

5. Trochaic substitution (iambic rhythm is reversed) – places emphasis on this opening line: sense that the speaker is delivering a purposeful & important message
Language used in traditional marriage services – commitment & constancy
Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove.
Nothing can stop love from lasting
Mirrored words suggest a loving couple
Polyptoton suggests that love is constant – it will not change the same way that appearances do
True love does not change
Polyptoton - repetition of words derived from the same root but with different endings

6. O, no! it is an ever-fixèd mark
Exclamation- declarative tone, use of negation- love is not- as it’s too hard to say exactly what it is!
Love is unchanging, even in stormy weather/through difficult times
O, no! it is an ever-fixèd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
ship
Love is compared to the pole star, which helps sailors to navigate
The star’s height can be mathematically calculated, but its value to the ships it guides is immeasurable
Nautical Imagery
Astronomical Imagery
Phallic imagery
The sounds of the sea are created by the sibilance- repetition of s’

7. Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Time can take away beauty and youth, but not love- allusion to a jester- link to fool?
Personification makes the battle between ‘Love’ and ‘Time’ more dramatic
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom:
reach
Doomsday/the last day of the world – love lasts beyond death
Time is related to death, but love still wins
Time is made to seem fleeting, but also unimportant
Hyperbole in these lines reflects the power of love
sickle

8. If this be error and upon me proved,
The poet guarantees that what he is saying is true – quite defensive/challenging
Volta: change in tone
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
He knows that he has written poetry, and that men have loved in the past
Rhyming couplet at the end
Man rather than woman- dominant sex? Homosexual?

9. Group discussion (AO1) arguing for an interpretation of the poem
Group discussion (AO1) arguing for an interpretation of the poem. Find evidence for your line of argument.
Group 1: Love is constant, unconditional and strong – and removes the need for divorce (focus on lines 1-8 the first two quatrains/ the octave)
Group 2: Love is immortal and everlasting and makes a mockery of death; it is the ultimate age defying moisturiser! (focus on lines 9-14)
Group 3: Love is an oppressive, tyrannical and burdensome curse that refuses to believe the idea that people can grow apart (whole poem)
Group 4: A blasphemous, politicised approach to love endorsing gay marriage and homosexual love.

10. Examine the view that Shakespeare presents the speaker in this poem, Sonnet 116, as having an idealised view of love.
Paragraph one: A contemporary reader would not feel that Shakespeare’s definition is idealistic . He speaks of True love ‘marriage of true minds’ / platonic love / typically regarded as noblest love / that is unchanging ‘alters when it alteration finds’ (iambic pentameter / language of marriage service ‘impediments’ / sonnet structure used for logical negation of love)
Paragraph two: His imagery is compelling and draws on manmade (mark - lighthouse) and natural imagery (star) to show how love is a source of protection and guidance. Nautical and astronomical imagery / quatrains 1 and 2 develop his argument
Paragraph three: However, an alternative reading that may be particular shared by 21st century readers could be that it is an idealised view. Firstly, ‘tempests’ can be too violent and a lighthouse cannot guarantee survival; a star is dead by the time we see it. Secondly, the negative wish ‘let me not […] admit’ suggests his recognition of the counterargument, he is on the point of admitting it. Alternative reading of imagery, tentative language at start
Paragraph four: Not only could the sonnet be regarded as more realistic in its understanding of love, but it could also be read as a political poem extolling homosexual love - knowing that Shakespeare could have been writing to a male at a time when one impediment preventing marriage was homosexuality. For example, ‘It is an ‘ever fixed mark’ could invoke phallic imagery and a symbol of homosexual love that is defiant and strong.
Conclusion – rhyming couplet’s function and irrefutable argument ‘ there you have it’ suggests the poet’s unaffected candour and sincerity of his conviction He is not idealistic, just optimistic and sincere.